It is well known that massive amounts of energy are transmitted to the earth from the sun; however the vast majority of this solar radiant energy is not converted into useable energy to meet the demands for human consumption of energy. A number of types of solar collectors are used to cover an area exposed to sunlight and convert the incident radiant energy into a useful form of energy such as heat or electricity. There are also systems which track the sun as the earth rotates. The more complex of these utilize sophisticated mathematical formulaes to predict the sun's apparent course and to track the sun. It has also been recognized that stationary solar collectors, particularly flat panel collectors commonly used for heating water, do not convert radiant energy to useful energy with the requisite efficiency to replace conventional sources of energy because the angle of incidence of the solar radiation deviates from normal to the surface of the solar collectors for most of each day. To increase the efficiency of such a system, a solar tracker can be used to orient the surface of the collector towards the sun; however, the known trackers are too complex and costly and leave something to be desired in terms of accuracy to be useful for most solar energy applications.